Zonli Review: Weighted + Cooling Blankets Worth The Hype?!

Nothing is worse than getting in bed after a long day, excited to cozy up and fall asleep, only to start overheating and struggle to fall asleep as a result. Trust me, I know because I've been there as a mom of 2 living through postpartum sweats, and a bedroom that felt like a sauna by the end of a summer day in Florida. Finding a comfortable cooling blanket felt impossible until I discovered Zonli Blankets.

What is Zonli?

Zonli offers premium bedding, including cooling and heated collections depending on your climate and how you sleep.

They've primarily made a name for themselves in the weighted blanket space thanks to their ultra soft materials and cooling technology.

However they also have futon mattresses, cooling floor mattresses, throw blankets, and heated blankets.

For the purposes of this review, I'll primarily focus on weighted and cooling blankets.

Zonli Blankets:

Zonli Cooling Blankets

Zonli offers four cooling blanket options: Z Magic Cooling Comforter, Comfy Cooling Blanket, the Bamboo Cooling Weighted Blanket, and the Pet Cooling Mat.

Z Magic Cooling Comforter

The Z Magic Cooling Comforter is the best blanket for hot sleepers I've come across. One side features Zonli-Bamboo™ which is an organic bamboo that's naturally anti-bacterial and skin-friendly with a Qmax of 0.38.

Basically the higher the Qmax the cooler it feels.

While the other side features Chillmax™ with a Qmax of 0.48. This side also contains Mica Powder in the fibres which is an upgraded cooling material, is naturally 35.6℉ lower than the environmental temperature – and you definitely feel it!

It works by absorbing excess heat and regulating your body temperature down for a cool sleep that lasts up to 12 hours.

The blanket is OEKO-TEX® certified, repels pet hair, is machine washable, and amazingly soft.

I can personally attest to it's cooling magic. As someone who often struggles to fall asleep because I'm too hot, this blanket completely alleviates that problem.

It measures about 1 inch thick, making it more like a quilt comforter, than a puffy down comforter. The blanket weighs between 3 and 6 lbs; so it's not considered a “weighted” blanket, but isn't too flimsy either.

However it's not well suited if you tend to get cold in the middle of the night, as it's still cooling you. Instead you may want the Comfy Cooling Blanket or Bamboo 2.0 Cooling Weighted Blanket.

Comfy Cooling Blanket

The Comfy Cooling Blanket currently comes in grey and green and offers a slightly different experience than the Z-Magic Cooling Comforter.

First, it definitely doesn't have that same luxury touch and feel; though it is still quite nice.

Like the Z-Magic it features Chillmax™ – thought it's not brushed with Mica Powder like the Z-Magic, so it isn't quite as cool feeling. The other side is then made from polyester.

This allows you to use the Chillmax™ side when you feel hot, and the polyester side when you feel cold.

It measures in at 59” X 79” and is pretty lightweight at only 2 lbs.

Bamboo Cooling Weighted blanket

For the ultimate sleep experience, Zonli's Bamboo Cooling Weighted Blanket is a top choice.

The exterior is made from viscose bamboo, an organic material that naturally wicks away heat and moisture. It's lightweight, cool to the touch, and breathable. Additionally, you can remove this and machine wash it.

Also include is a weighted blanket insert. It uses glasses beads in alignment with the Deep Pressure Stimulation (DPS) technique which has been shown to help people with Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD), restless leg syndrome, insomnia, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), anxiety, ADHD, and more. The glass beads are sewn into small squares so they don't make any noise when you move around while offering the perfect hug to relax the nervous system.

The 2.0 version of this weighted comforter comes in queen and king sizing, grey and white, and weighted options between 20 to 35 lbs. The original version only comes in 20 or 25 lbs options and still currently offers navy blue and khaki colors as well as twin sizing at the time of writing this.

The major downside to Zonli's weighted blanket is the limited weight options. The general rule of thumb for choosing a weighted blanket weight is about 10% of your own weight. However their blanket's start at 20 lbs so those under 200 lbs may find they are too heavy.

With that said, when you have a 20 lbs king size blanket, that's really only like 10 lbs per person as the weight is evenly distributed, so it's definitely going to be a personal choice/experience and thankfully they offer 21 day returns.

More Zonli weighted blankets

Zonli offers three other types of weighted blankets: heated, cotton, and chunky.

Heated:

The heated weighted blanket comes in a 15 lbs and 20 lb option, measuring 60″ x 80″ with 10 heating levels and a 12 hour auto-off timer. The ultra cozy blanket is made from 200 GSM flannel fleece, machine washable and dryable. It has glass beads sewn inside. Lastly it offers a 3 year limited warranty.

Cotton:

Zonli also has a 100% Cotton fabric that's OEKO-TEX 100 certified weighted blanket. It features a breathable microfiber layer and high density glass beads stitched into 5×5 compartments so they don't shift around unevenly.

This weighted blanket comes in kids and adult options. For kids, there's one size (36″ x 48″) and weight (5 lbs) with a few colors to choose from (light grey, light blue, or dark grey).

For adults, choose from 5 colors (dark grey, navy blue, light blue, light grey, white, and cheetah) and two sizes. The adult blanket also comes in 12 lbs, 15 lbs, or 20 lbs.

While the glass beads do make it cooler than other weighted blankets on the market, this is not the same “cooling” material as the previously mentioned picks.

TIP: Consider purchasing a duvet cover for the weighted blanket so you can reduce the number of washes on the actual blanket, keeping the glass beads and stitching like new for as long as possible.

Chunky:

This is a handmade twisted polyester yarn filling and acrylic knitted shell fabric for an oversized look of a classic knit that's machine washable and durable.

While the weight definitely feels even, it felt odd to have holes in my blanket. So while these certainly had their moment on Instagram, I'd personally skip it.

A note on weighted blankets:

Weighted blankets gained popularity in the late 2010s as several studies came out about the benefits of sleep with autistic children and adults diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.

A weighted blanket is a type of blanket filled with small, evenly distributed weight. The purpose of a weighted blanket is to provide deep pressure stimulation (DPS) to the body, which has been found to have several beneficial effects on sleep and overall well-being. The use of weighted blankets is backed by scientific research. Here are a few recent studies:

1. Weighted blankets and sleep in autistic children—A randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of weighted blankets on sleep in children with autism. The results showed that the use of a weighted blanket significantly improved sleep duration and reduced nighttime awakenings. Pediatrics, 134(2), 298-306.
2. A 2020 randomized control study of weighted chain blankets for insomnia in psychiatric disorders found that use for 4+ weeks resulted in 50% reduced insomnia severity, improved depression, anxiety, and fatigue, as well as better sleep and daytime activity.
3. A 2021 followed up study of children and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experienced an easier time falling asleep and staying asleep throughout hte night as well as feeling more relaxed during the day.

Customer Reviews:

On Amazon you'll find thousands of positive customer reviews for Zonli's blankets:

Personal Testimonial:

And my personal experience has been the same. Our blanket is comfortable, cooling, and really lives up to the hype for myself, son, and husband.

Personally, I always struggled to fall asleep due to overheating. The Z-Magic blanket has completely made this a non issue. Though I do personally get cold in the middle of the night, so I keep a warm blanket around too.

My 2 year old has always been a hot sleeper. He would wake up constantly with a sweaty head and was always so restless while sleeping. Since using the Z-Magic blanket, I've found he falls asleep faster, doesn't toss and turn nearly as much, and his sweaty head has completely ceased! He definitely wakes up more rested and it's been the perfect solution.

My husband has also always slept hot, and would typically just use a sheet to combat this, but has loved the switch to the Z-Magic where he actually gets a cozy blanket that doesn't disrupt his sleep.

Final thoughts…

The research on weighted blankets improving sleep quality speaks for itself, add in the cooling technology and quality from Zonli and it's pretty much a no brainer that these blankets are awesome!

They have a sleep solution for every pain point:

• Sleeps hot all night: Z Magic
• Falls asleep hot, then gets cold: Comfy Cooling Blanket
• Anxious sleeper: Cotton Weighted blanket
• Anxious + hot sleeper: Bamboo Weighted Blanket
• Anxious + Cold Sleeper: Heated weighted blanket

Despite me being more of a mixed sleeper, I love the Z-Magic doubles as a comforter, as does the Bamboo weighted blanket. Both picks feel luxurious and cool to the touch, making them perfect for the Florida heat we live in!